A 66-year-old murder suspect, allegedly linked by DNA evidence to the 1977 strangulation death of a 16-year-old McKinley High School student, was released from the Salt Lake County Jail because Honolulu prosecutors are not ready to proceed with the case.
The Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office said Monday it is continuing to investigate the case against Gideon Castro, but declined to provide any information that it said might jeopardize the case or its continuing investigation.
A Salt Lake County District Court judge ordered Castro’s release March 12 following the request by a local district attorney, and Castro was released from custody Thursday, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Castro was arrested Jan. 21 at a Utah nursing home, where he was living, on suspicion of second-degree murder in the killing of McKinley sophomore Dawn Momohara, who was sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Her body was found on the second floor of the English building at McKinley High School shortly after 7:30 a.m. March 21, 1977.
Castro, a 1976 McKinley graduate, had waived extradition Feb. 26 and consented to being released to Hawaii officers to return to Hawaii to stand trial for murder.
In a motion to the court March 11, Salt Lake County District Attorney Clifford Ross asked that the case be dismissed without prejudice, which would allow the case to be refiled, and that Castro be released from custody in accordance with the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office’s request.
Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor Kelsi Guerra’s March 10 letter to Ross said: “We cannot currently proceed with prosecution of this case, due to recent complications involving a material witness in this case and the state of the evidence.
“These issues have led to the conclusion that further investigation is necessary before we proceed with extradition, which will require considerable funding and resources, and prosecution.”
She further wrote that this is “only a temporary setback, and we remain fully committed to continuing our efforts to prosecute this matter in the near future.”
In his motion, Ross quoted Castro’s defense memorandum that states Castro has serious health problems, and jail personnel are unable to move him to the video room for court appearances, and that he has appeared for court proceedings from his bed.
In 1977, detectives interviewed Castro, who was later identified as a suspect. He told police he and his brother, William, were friends with Momohara. He said he last saw her in February 1977 at the McKinley carnival and that he was in the U.S. Army Reserve and had come home to Honolulu.
Honolulu Police Department Homicide Lt. Deena Thoemmes said that 42 years later in March 2019, the homicide cold-case detectives submitted a request to HPD’s Scientific Identification Section to process several items of evidence from the murder scene.
In May 2020 an HPD criminalist specializing in DNA obtained the profile of an unidentified male from sperm found on Momohara’s shorts.
In September 2023, Gideon and William Castro were identified as potential suspects.
Detectives covertly obtained DNA from William Castro or one of his children and ruled him out as a suspect, police said.
The FBI and Homeland Securities Investigation tracked down Gideon Castro in Utah. They also found his son and obtained his DNA, which identified him as the son of the unidentified male.
HPD detectives then secretly took a sample of Castro’s DNA, which was a match to the evidence from the victim’s shorts.
